1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of optical toys and amusement devices. More specifically, this invention relates to a kaleidoscope wherein the contents of the object cell, viz. a clear transparent viscous liquid and a plurality of colored discrete particles commonly referred to as "objects", are caused to move by the action of a small pump that circulates the liquid through the object cell in controlled directions. Eye-pleasing symmetrical patterns, as observed through the eye-piece of the kaleidoscope, can be attained as the liquid and objects move without the viewer having to rotate or re-orient the object cell with respect to the prism mirror system of the kaleidoscope.
2. The Prior Art
The kaleidoscope is an optical instrument invented and patented by Sir David Brewster circa 1816. In its simplest forms, it comprises two basic systems of mirrors, namely the 2-mirror system, which produces one central image and the 3-mirror system, which produces images reflected throughout the entire field of view. The mirrors in both systems are set up in a triangular configuration in a tube similar to a hollow prism.
In the following discussion, the end of the kaleidoscope housing the eye-piece and therefore nearer the viewer will be referred to as the proximal end. The opposite end, farther away from the viewer, will be referred to as the distal end.
Located at the distal end is an object chamber or cell in the form of a short hollow cylinder containing a plurality of small contrasting colored discrete particles in a clear transparent viscous liquid. These discrete particles are imaged by the prism mirror system onto the field of view of the kaleidoscope. The totality of a kaleidoscope comprises the object chamber, the mirror system and the eye-piece, all housed inside a cylindrical tube, which is usually decorated externally to enhance the appearance of the instrument. It is the design of the object chamber, however, that governs the lighting of the colored objects inside, whose eye-pleasing symmetrical pattern images are seen by the viewer through the eye-piece of the kaleidoscope.
For most hand-held kaleidoscopes, the object chamber has two transparent ends. Light enters the object chamber through its exposed end. Alternatively, the exposed end of the object chamber is blackened to be opaque to light, and the cylindrical side wall of the chamber is made transparent to allow external light to enter the object chamber only from the side. Yet another configuration for this type of hand-held kaleidoscope calls for all surfaces of the object chamber to be transparent so that light can enter the object chamber not only through the exposed end, but also from the cylindrical side wall of the disc as well.
For a long time after the invention of the kaleidoscope, the illumination of the images created by the colored objects inside the object chamber was mostly derived from natural lighting, either directly through the distal face or the periphery of the object chamber, or both. The advent of a new time and intensity variant artificial illumination system, complete with full audio sound effects, is the subject of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/971,092 filed on Nov. 14, 1997 for ILLUMINATION SYSTEM FOR KALEIDOSCOPES, of which the present application is a continuation-in-part. Most of the kaleidoscopes known in the art for many years have fixed object chambers on the interior, which, upon rotation of the entire kaleidoscope tube, change the random distribution of objects inside the object chamber thereby presenting a variety of pleasing and symmetrical images to the viewer. One such kaleidoscope was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,294,967 issued Feb. 18, 1919 to Anton Stabla. This patent shows an exceedingly simple and elegant construction of the kaleidoscope using an inexpensive tube made from a single piece of material. The object chamber is formed by a pair of transparent plates, separated by a spacer, with a plurality of colored objects disposed between them. Natural lighting is used to illuminate the object chamber through the transparent plate that closes the end of the tube. Although the object chamber is fixed, upon rotating the entire kaleidoscope tube, the colored objects inside the object chamber tumble and thereby create different images for the viewer of the kaleidoscope.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,020,796 issued Feb. 13, 1962, Kaplan advanced the idea of incorporating a single electric lamp under the translucent object chamber of a stationary or table kaleidoscope as a means of illumination in lieu of natural light. A disk, which bears a variety of colorful patterns and figures, is interposed between the object chamber and the electric lamp and is rotated to produce the desirable visual effects to be viewed. Although this idea of an effectively rotating object chamber for a table kaleidoscope by Kaplan is not applicable to hand-held kaleidoscopes, it did nevertheless represent the first rotating object chamber on record.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,772 issued Nov. 9, 1976, Knott was the first to introduce an effective rotating object chamber for a hand-held kaleidoscope in the form of a rotating carriage retained at the distal end of the kaleidoscope tube and carrying with it a color disc and an opaque object box. As the carriage is made to rotate about the axis of the kaleidoscope tube, the colorful objects inside the object box are caused to tumble, thereby producing a progression of continuously changing colorful patterns for the viewer.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,734 issued Jul. 21, 1992, Hausner describes an improved objective illumination assembly for the hand-held kaleidoscope. Hausner includes an electric light source within the kaleidoscope tube body between the viewing end (eye-piece) and the object chamber. Furthermore, to rotate the object chamber, he devised a special mechanical assembly including a small electric motor, a drive shaft and a rubber band harness. Hausner's invention represents the first power-assisted hand-held kaleidoscope on record not only to provide an artificial illumination system for the object chamber in lieu of natural lighting, but also a motorized mechanical assembly for producing an ever-changing display of symmetrical images for the viewer. Unfortunately, the device was relatively fragile and yet very complicated to build. Furthermore, it was very costly to build. This assessment of Hausner's invention is borne out by the fact that to date it remains only as a curiosity piece and has never been widely adopted and copied in the industry.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,046 issued Apr. 26, 1988, MacCarthy introduced a so-called "liquid" kaleidoscope wherein the object chamber consists of one or more tubular sections in which a liquid and colored solids flow in spatially confined volumes and in controlled directions. The object chamber which contains the assembly of closed tubes can be rotated in a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction. The resultant motion of the liquid and the solid particles in this particular configuration of the object cell generates an endless display of pleasing static and dynamic symmetrical images as seen by the viewer.
In 1993, Eilrich and Baker in U.S. Pat. No. B1-5,029,954 (originally issued Jul. 9, 1991 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,954 and reexamined in 1993) advanced the idea of a kaleidoscope having a removable object tube in lieu of a stationary object chamber. The length of this object tube, whose mid section acts as the object chamber for the hand-held kaleidoscope, can be many times the diameter of the kaleidoscope tube itself The extent of the object tube's diameter, on the other hand, is not critical as long as it is larger than the aperture of the prism mirror system of the kaleidoscope. The object tube is filled with a clear transparent fluid having a plurality of discrete contrasting colored elements whose movements are subjected to the force of gravity. When the object tube is swung to a vertical direction, all the discrete contrasting colored elements tend to drift downwards in the fluid towards its bottom. As these particles drift down through the aperture of the prism mirror system of the kaleidoscope, the effect created is equivalent to that of an object cell with its contents changing as a function of time. In this manner the viewer is presented with a variety of changing colorful symmetrical images as if the object cell of the kaleidoscope is being rotated.
However, after a certain period of time has elapsed, typically one to two minutes, all the particles have drifted downwards to the bottom of the object tube. At this point the object tube will cease to function as the object cell for the kaleidoscope because there are no more particles in the field of view of the prism mirror system. The viewer would have to turn the object tube with the kaleidoscope from end to end in order that the particles inside the tube can once again drift downwards towards its bottom. In this way the "rotating object cell" effects of the object tube will once again be re-created.
It is clear from the discussion of the prior art presented above that several attempts had been made to simulate the visual effects of a rotating object cell for a hand-held kaleidoscope with the use of a single removable object tube (U.S. Pat. No. B1-5,029,954 to Eilrich and Baker) or an assembly of fixed ones filled inside with a clear transparent viscous fluid and a plurality of colorful particles (U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,046 to MacCarthy). In both cases the force of gravity is relied upon to act on the particles inside the tube thereby requiring the viewer to physically move or re-orient the kaleidoscope from time to time. Furthermore, in the case of Eilrich and Baker's invention, the very long object tube is very cumbersome since it extends symmetrically and perpendicularly to the kaleidoscope tube at the distal end of the instrument. Thus there exists a need for a kaleidoscope that has a power-propelled mechanism that would eliminate any need at all to rotate or re-orient its object chamber in order to present the viewer an ever-changing display of pleasing and colorful symmetrical images. The present invention with its novel pumping mechanism serves to fill this need.